The boarding of Malek and Singer kick-starts the project, which had petered out since Sacha Baron Cohen walked away from it after spending years attached to play Mercury.

Mercury was born in what is now Tanzania and grew up in India before moving to England in the mid-1960s. He teamed up with Brian May and Roger Taylor in 1970 to form Queen, a seminal 70s rock band with hits such as "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Are the Champions," and "Somebody to Love." Mercury, generally acknowledged to have one of the great voices in rock, died in 1991 from complications due to AIDS. He was 45.